Che partita! Team Italy’s home run celebration a nod to the old country (GIF)

Team Italy did its very best but came up a bit short in its upset bid of the far more talented Team Dominican Republic, losing by a score of 5-4 — blowing a four-run lead will have that effect –but that did not mean they didn’t have some fun in the process.

After Chris Colabello hit a three-run homer in the first inning, the slugger was met by a teammate and what ensued was a unique celebration by all accounts never before seen on the baseball field: The traditional Mediterranean (as well as other parts of the world) greeting of cheek kissing.

There you have it. But not only was the cheek kiss employed, the guys topped it off with the fingertips kiss, yet another move where when you see it, you say, “Now that’s Italian!”

The kiss-on-the-cheeks greeting, while not practiced here in the States, is a very common practice elsewhere and it goes without saying the gesture is a far preferable way of showing one’s regards than another Italian — more specifically, Italian Mafioso — manner of greeting: The dreaded Kiss of Death. Perhaps if Colabello had struck out in a clutch situation we would have seen one of his teammates grabbing him by the face and saying, “I knew it was you, Colabello. You broke my heart. You broke my heart.”